Carriage-curtain



(N5 Mdel.)

F.. A. BRANDENBURG,

CARRIAGE CURTAIN. A.

No. 357,265. Patented Peb. 8. 1887.

WW1/wow@ l 6% vwe/woz Nv PETERS. PlwlnALilhogmpher, wn.-..ug|m\. D. C

UNITED STATES rPATENT FFICE.

FowLnaA.' BRANDENBURG, or VANDALIA, oHio.

CARRIAGE-CURTAIN.

SPECIFICATION' forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,265, dated February 8, 1887. Application filed September .2, 1886. Serial No. 2|2,524. (No model.)

T all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, FowLER A. BRANDEN- BURG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vandalia, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Carriage-Curtains, of whichl the following is a specification.

My inveutionrelates to improvements in 'carriage-curtains; and it consists ot' the pecu- .persons to any class of buggies, carriages,

tion, Figure l isa side elevation of a top buggy with my improved curtain applied thereto.k Fig. 2 is an enlarged detached View of the curtain. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional viewon the line :v m of FigfZ. Fig. 4 is a similar sectional view showing a modified formy of my invention, and Fig. 5 is anI enlarged perspective view of the-clasp detached from the curtain.

Referring tothe drawings, in which like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures, A designates the curtain,

which is made or" any suitable size, according to the size of the vehicle tok which it -is to be applied. .This curtain may be made of any suitable water-proof or other material to resist the weather, and it can be ornamented and decorated to suit the taste. At its upper edge the curtain is lapped o r folded upon itself and stitched or otherwise secured together, so as to provide a sheath, B, and the said upper edge of the curtainis formed into a series of gathers, 'as at b. Y

Within the sheath B of the curtain is inclosed and protected a retracting-spring, C, of elastic fabric, as shown in Fig. 3, or of coiled wire, as shown in Fig. 4, and the extremities of this retracting-spring are secured to opposite corners on the same edge of the curtain. By means of the gathers I) and the retractingspring O it will be seen that the curtain is normally contracted and lies in a series of folds, so that it takes up but very little space and can be very compactly folded or stored away, and by pulling upon the said ends of the retracting-spring the curtain can be expanded or extended to probably onehalf its original length, so that it is adapted to accommodate itself to vehicles of different sizes and fit either l the sides or back of the same vehicle.

'D designates the clasps for detachably counecting the curtain to a vehicle-top. clasps are each bent from a single piece of wire, and comprise the arms d d and a coil, d2, connectingthe -arms at one end, so as to leave the opposite ends of said arms free. The

These arms are arranged alongside of one another,

and the arm d is curved or bulged outwardly at its middle, while the arm d is bent to one side of the coil at the point where it joins the latter, so as to increase the space between the arms, to adapt them to clasp one of the bows or the standard of a vehicle-top more securely. The arm d is bent upon itself to form a loop or eye, d3, and through this loop vis passed one end ofthe retractiug spring C, so that the clasp is secured to the spring and at one corner of the curtain. It will be seen that the clasps are secured to the extremities of the retracting-spring, and at the upper corners of the curtain opposite to each other, and when the clasps are connected to the vehicle-top the spring is distended and draws upon the clasps, so that they are caused to more securely and iirmly engage the vehicle-top, and are thereby prevented from becoming detached 'or displaced.

At or near its lower edge the curtain is provided with another sheath, e, which may be formed in the fabric or secured thereto in any preferable manner, and in this sheath e is y housed or inclosed a retracting-spring of elastic fabric or coiled wire, similar to the spring inclosed in the sheath at the upper edge of the curtain. lClasps F are secured to the extremities of the spring, and these claspsare connected to any suitable' point on the top in a similar manner as the clasps D, the clasps F ybeing formed of wire,in the manner hereinbefore described for th'e clasps D.-

' The operation of my invention will be readily understood'from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings. The

IOS

springs and the curtain are distended or lengthened,and the clasps D F at the opposite sides and upper and lower edges of the curtain are connected with the top of a vehicle by passing the arms of the clasps around the bows or standards, so that the said arms will firmly embrace the same; or the loops or coils of the clasps may be iitted over the buttons on the top, the said coils serving as finger-loops in which the iingers can be inserted in order to distend the spring to which it is connected in securing the curtain to th'e carriage-top.' The springs draw the clasps very firmly into contact with the part oi' the buggy-top with which they are engaged, and the curtain is held in its proper place very securely and without danger of displacement. By means of the spring C and the clasps F at or near the lower edge of the curtain the lower edge of the latter is very securely held and prevented from heilig blown away from the top,or flapping, thereby avoiding the annoyance to which the occupants ofthe vehicle are sometimes subjected with the old common form of curtain at present in extensive use.

rlhe curtain is very simple and durable of construction, cheap of manufacture, and easily and quickly applied and detached by an un skilled person.

Various changes in the form and proportion of parts can be made without departing from the principle of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A carriage-curtain provided with a retracting-spring arranged transversely of the longitudinal axis of the curtain,to permit the same to be stretched and contracted, and the clasps secured to the terminal ends of theV said spring, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

2. A carriage-curtain provided with a transverse sheath, a spring inclosed within the sheath and arranged transversely of the longitudinal axis of the curtain, and the clasps connected to the terminal ends of thc spring, substantially as described.

3. Acarriage-curtain provided with a series of gathers at one edge and a sheath, a retracting-spring inclosed within the sheath and arranged transversely of the longitudinal axis of the curtain,to permit the latter to be stretched and contracted. and the clasps connected to the extremities of the spring to connect the curtain to the vehicletop, substantially as described.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a carriage-curtain provided with a transverse retracting-spring, and a clasp connected to each end of the spring, said clasp being bent from a single piece of wire upon itself to form two arms,- d d', substantially parallel with each other, and an intermediate coil, d'2, one of the arms having a hook to connect the clasp to the carriage-top, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a vehicle-top, of a curtain, the retractingspring connected to the curtain, and the clasps detachably connected to the top and secured to the extremities of the spring, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

6. A carriagecurtain having the retractngsprings at 0r near its upper and lower edges, and the clasps connected to the extremities ot' thesprings, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aiiixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FOWLER A. BRANDENBURG.

Witnesses:

MARY E. ANDERsoN, R. EVANS. 

